Garment form



June 15, 1937. w. w. SIMPSON GARMENT FORM Filed May 3, 1935 Patented June 15, 1937 Ul'iED STATES GARMENT FORM Walter W. Simpson, San Antonio, Tex., assigner of one-half to Cecil W. Miller, San Antonio,

Tex.

Application May 3, 1935,7Serial No. V19,728

2 Claims.

This invention relates to clothes driers and stretchers and has special reference to a device of this kind for use in connection with stockings. When ladies stockings are washed at home, it 5 is not at all unusual to place them on a bath towel, or stretch them over a line to dry, and in either case, the stocking is allowed to stretch in length and shrink in width. This is especially true in connection with low-priced hosiery, and the stretching of the hose back to its original shape as an incident to the introduction of the limb into the hose, strains to the breaking point the delicate threads of the hose and this, in part, is the cause of runs that are so objectionable to ladies.

With an appreciation of the above, the invention forming the subject of this application will be found to be in the nature of a form over which the hose may be drawn for drying and proper stretching or maintenance of the proper shape, so that it is possible to again wear the hose without the necessity of stretching the hose when dry and possibly rupturing the more delicate threads thereof.

In addition, hosiery dried and stretched with the use of the herein disclosed device will be found to have the appearance of new hose or substantially so because the original shape isV maintained, wrinkles are avoided and at the o same time, there is an absence of streaks which characterize hosiery when allowed to dry on a towel, for example.

'Ihe invention in its more specific aspects also contemplates simple means by which the hose is held under a uniform tension during drying with the sides of the hose held in spaced relation to allow of the free circulation of air through the hosiery for rapid drying and for the maintenance of the original lustrous appearance of the 40 hOSe.

Another important feature of the invention will be found to reside in the fact that the header by which the frame or body is mounted is of solid materialY extending beyond the front and rear sides of the frame and laterally thereof to act as an effective closure for the adjacent open end of the stocking during the drying operation so that if it happens that the device is employed in an open yard, for example, leaves, twigs, Vand other objects will be prevented from entering and perhaps tearing the stocking either during the entry or removal thereof or possibly necessitating the re-washing of the stocking and in any case, avoiding the annoying necessity of removing such foreign objects from the stocking.

Also, since the header is wider than the formgiving body or frame of the device, it will be found to act as a spacing element so that if a number of the devices are suspended from the same clothes line, side by side, the frames of the devices and the stockings thereon will be held in conveniently and properly spaced relation for the free circulation of air between the stockings.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character specied which is neat in appearance, ldurable in use, and relatively cheap to manufacture, allowing the device to be placed on the market at a low price with a reasonable expectation of commercial success.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a perspective of the improved de- Vice,

Figure 2is a fragmentary sectional perspective Y disclosing the connection Vbetween several parts of the device,

Figure 3 is an end elevation of a number of the devices suspended side by side from a clothes line, and illustrating the manner which the form-givingrframes and the stockings thereon are maintained in spaced relation to allow of the free circulation of air between the stockings,

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 4 4 of Figure 3.

In the drawing, wherein for the purpose Vof ,illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates a body formed from a single length of spring or resilient wire, preferably cylindrical in cross-section, and having the intermediate portion thereof bent into the form of a foot 6. The bending of the wire into the form of a foot with toe and heel portions also defines front and rear sides 8 and lu, respectively, `the front side being more or less straight to correspond to the shin bone, while the rear side It is curved outward from the ankle portion of the device along delicate and graceful lines such as might be expected to be found in properly shaped hose.

The terminal portions of the front and rear sides 8 and l0 are received in sockets Ml in the terminal portions of a header it. It is disclosed in Figure 1 that the curvature of the upper terminal portion of the rear Yside l0 oftheV frame Y approximates that of a human leg and at the same time directs this terminal portion into the header I6 at an acute angle' thereto, with the result that the frame 5 is securely attached to the header, without the possibility of loss. However, if found desirable, additional means, such as glue or cement, may also be employed to further aid in securing the terminal portions of the sides 8 and IG in the sockets of the header l 6.

k The header i6 is' shown to be enlarged somewhat between the ends thereof and to be provided with 'a hook 20 having a curved bill by which the device may be suspended from a suitable support, such, for example, as a clothes line.

With furtherreference to the header I5, it is pointed out'that the same is of a solid material, possibly wood, and has a length and breadth sufficient to overhang and'extend beyond the ends and sides of the open end of the garment so las to prevent foreign objects from dropping into or entering the hosiery while being dried. 'I'his is important. For example, if the device is suspended from a clothes line in the yard of a house, and leaves or twigs happen to fall from nearby trees, such leaves or twigs are prevented by the overhanging header I 6 from dropping into the hosiery. Clearly, the dropping of leaves, twigs or other foreign objects into the hosiery while being dried would bechighly objectionable because this would Vvery likely result in damage to the hosiery either during the entry or removal of the foreign objects and in any case would require considerable eiTort to free the hosiery of such Vforeign objects and might necessitate the re-washing of the hosiery.

In Figures 3 and 4, it is illustrated that the header l5 has a width substantially greater than the diameter of the wire forming the body of the form and that the sides of such header are flat allowing a number of the devices to be placed closely together either on a clothes line during actual use, or while being handled in trade. Due to the fact that the header i6 is of greater width than the diameter of the wire forming the body of the form, such wire body is held in spaced relation to the form-giving bodies of adjacent devices during the actual drying and stretching operation, so that air may circulate freely between the vstockings. n other words, the header l5 extends laterally beyond the body 5 to form spacing means so that if, as shown in Figure 3, a number ofthe devices are suspendedV from the same clothes line,

Vside by side, the bodies or frames of the devices A and the stockings thereon will be held in` properly spaced relation to provide for the free circulation ber of the devices are suspended side by side from the same clothes line or other support.

With further reference to Figure l, it will be seen that the upper terminal portion of the rearV side I0 of the body is curved outward away from the front side 8 or is formed with a graceful rearward curvature so that the peeling or removal of the stocking after being dried is facilitated. However, the rearward curvature of the upper portion of the rear side I0 is insuicient to cause the accidental slipping of the garment down the form-giving body and is only suflicient to allow of the convenientpeeling of the stocking from the form.

With reference to the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying Y drawing, it will be seen that the device is capable `of economical manufacture so that the same may be sold for a nominal price and that the utility of the device combined with the unusually neat appearance thereof looks to the commercial success of the invention when placed upon the market. The improved form-giving device has no moving parts and hence will not easily get out of order or become broken.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. In a device for drying and stretching stockings, a frame having front and rear sides toenter stockings and being of spring material to place i thc stockings under constant tension, and a header of solid material having sockets receiving the said front and rear sides of the frame and being extended lengthwisebeyond the front and rear sides of the frame and laterally beyond the i frames and stockings for the circulation of airi between the stockings, the said rear side of the frame having the upper terminal portion thereof curved rearward, so as to facilitate the peeling of the stocking from the frame and to present the adjacent terminal portion of the rear side to the header at an acute angle thereto and thus lock the said rear side of the frame inthe complemental socket in the header. Y

2. in a device for drying and stretching stockings, a frame having front and rear sides to entervstockings and being of spring material to place the stockings under constant tension, and a .header of solid material having socketsr receiving the said front and rear vsides of the frame, the said rear side of the frame having the upper terminal portion thereof curved rearward to present the same to the header at an acute angle thereto and thus lock the said rear side of the framein the com- Y plemental socket in the header.

WALTER W. SIIVLPSON. 

